Room-calling system for hotels



O. CONTI.

ROOM CALLING SYSTEM FOR HOTELS.

APPLICATION ,FILED JAN- 20, 1920.

1,34 1 82., Patented July 112, 1921.

3 SHEETSSHEET I.

HU H M;

llmul O. CONTI.

ROOM CALLING SYSTEM FOR HOTELS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 20, I920. 1,384,182, Patented July 12, 19621.

3 SHEETS- -SHEET t the baIIery Fig.5.

O. CONTI.

ROOM CALLING SYSTEM FOR HOTELS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN- 20, 1920. 1 341:, 19 Patented July 12, 1921,

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- ORESTE CONTI,

OF VIAEEGGIO,

ITALY.

ROOM-CALLING SYSTEM HOTELS.

Application filed January 20, 1920. Serial No. 352,883.

To all whom it may com-cm Be it known that l, Onnsrn CoNrI, a subject of the King of Italy, and resident of V treggio, Province of Lucca, Kingdom of Italy, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Room-Calling Systems for Hotels, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in automatic room-calling systems for hotels and has for its object to provide a simple clock-controlled electric signal system by means of which bells in the several rooms of a hotel may be automatically rung at the hours the guests desire to be called.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front view showing the master clock and the control board located at the clerks desk or other suitable point;

Fig. 2 a rear view of the dial of the master clock; I

Fig. 3 a rear view showing one of the manually settable circuit controlling devices mounted on the control board;

Figs. a and 5 hour-striking mechanism of the clock modified to act as circuit-closing means; and

Fig. 6 a diagrammatic view illustrating the wiring connections between the battery, clock, control board, and the bells in the rooms.

Referring to the various parts by reference characters, a designates the master clock which is provided with the usual pivoted striker 5 adapted to be vibrated in the usual manner every half hour when the usual striker mechanism locking pawl c is released from one of the notches e in the usual rotatable striker-control disk f. As is well known, the striker control disk in the ordinary clock is provided with notches spaced progressively increasing distances apart to regulate the number of strokes made by the hammer or striker during partial rotation of the disk after pawl 0 is lifted until the disk is again locked by pawl c snapping in the next succeeding notch. I have modified the form oi the disk by providing five equally spaced notches so that the striker b will vibrate the same number of times every half hour. The number of notches may be varied to vary the duration of the sounding of the alarm bells, as more fully hereinafter described. The clock is further modified. by substituting a contact linger or plate g for the usual gong which is adapted detail views of parts of the to be engaged intermittently by the striker "0 when the striker is vibrated, causing an intermittent ringing of the call bells.

The contact g is connected directly with the battery It by a line wire i (Figs. 5 and 6), and the striker b is electrically connected by a wire j with the hour hand 72 of the clock at all times through the post upon which said hour hand is mounted. The hour hand 70 is adapted to successively wipe overeach of 2d insulated cont-acts Z mounted in the dial of the clock a, said hand engaging said contacts successively on the hour and half hour. Wires on lead from the several contacts Z to corresponding contacts a at the back of each or the dials 0 mounted in the control board 39. The dials 0 are graduated in hours and half hours and a swinging manually shittable pointer Q is fixed on a rotatable post r extending axially through each dial 0. A contact arm 8 is fixed on each post 1' to adapt said arm to be shifted by the pointer 9 into engagement with either of the contacts a or to a point t (Fig. 3) out of en agement with all of said contacts, the arm 8 being at point 2? when the pointer is shifted over the character 0 on the dial 0. Each contact arm 3 is in constant electrical connection with a contact plate a. Each plate a is connected by a wire 4) through an electric bell to to a branch wire a: and thence to the battery it through a line wire y. Each. bell w is located in the room 2 numbered to correspond with the indicating numeral on the control board 2) adjacent the dial 0 with which the bell is connected.

It will be obvious that as the hour hand engages each contact Z the striker mechanism or" the clock a will cause hammer b to vibrate a short time and close the circuit intermittently from battery it, through wire 2', contact g, hammer Z), wire 7', hour hand In, contact Z, wire m, all of contacts a with which the particular wire at is connected, all contact arms a which have been shifted into register with said contacts at, to all of the bells 10 connected by wires o and plates to with said shifted arms a, and thence to battery it through wires and y. It will also be obvious that the bells will ring intermittently owing to the vibration of hammer b by the striker mechanism while disk f is rotating and that the length of time the signal will sound will depend on the distance between notches e in disk f, or the length of time said disk is released from locking pawl 0 of the clock-striking mechanism.

What I claim is:

In a call system, the combination of a series of electric bells, a master clock having an hour hand, a series of contacts on the clock adapted to be successively engaged by the hour hand, a control board, a plurality of sets oi": stationary contacts on the control board, 'means connecting each contact on the clock with a correspondingcontact in each of the sets of contacts on the control board, manually shiltable circuitclosers on the control board each associated with one of said sets of stationary contacts and movable into engagement with either contact of the set, means connecting one terminal of each bell with the same terminal of the battery, independent electrical connections between the other terminals or" the bells and the manually shittable circuitclosers, and means controlled by the master clock for intermittently electrically connecting the other battery terminal and the hour hand of the clock during the engagement of the hour hand with each of the contact-son the clock. V l

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature. I

.oansrnoonrr. 

